Hide beetle
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The hide beetles are a family (Trogidae) of beetles with a distinctive warty or bumpy appearance. Found worldwide, the family includes about 300 species in three genera.
Trogids range in length from 2.5 to 20.0 mm. Their shape is oblong to oval, with a generally flat abdomen. Their color ranges from brown to gray or black, often obscured with a dirt encrusting. Otherwise they resemble scarab beetles, with heavy limbs and spurs.
They are scavengers, being among the last to visit and feed on the dried-out remains of dead animals; both adults and larvae will eat feathers, fur, and skin. They may also be found in bird and mammal nests. Details of species' life histories is usually poorly known, since many are specialized to particular types of nests. Between their covering of dirt and a habit of becoming motionless when disturbed, they are often overlooked, both by predators and by collectors.
The taxonomic position of these beetles is somewhat unsettled, with many authorities placing them as a subfamily Troginae of the Scarabaeidae. The common name "skin beetle" is sometimes used, but that name is usually used of the Dermestidae.
[edit] Reference
- Mary Liz Jameson, "Trogidae", in Ross H. Arnett, Jr. and Michael C. Thomas, American Beetles (CRC Press, 2002), vol. 2
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